1. Field
The present application relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to techniques for service redirection of a communication device.
2. Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication (e.g., voice, data, multimedia services, etc.) to multiple users. As the demand for high-rate and multimedia data services rapidly grows, there lies a challenge to implement efficient and robust communication systems with enhanced performance.
In recent years, users have started to replace fixed line communications with mobile communications and have increasingly demanded great voice quality, reliable service, and low prices. In addition to mobile phone networks currently in place, a new class of small base stations has emerged, which may be installed in a user's home and provide indoor wireless coverage to mobile units using existing broadband Internet connections. Such personal miniature base stations are generally known as femtocell network base station, femto base station (fBS), an access point (AP) base station, Home Node B (HNB) unit, or base station transceiver system (BTS). Typically, femtocells are connected to the Internet and the mobile operator's network via a digital subscriber line (DSL) router or cable modem.
Femtocells allow for cellular access where macro cellular base station support is weak or unavailable (e.g., indoors, remote locations, and the like), but may be deployed anywhere, even if macro cellular coverage is adequate, e.g. due to more favorable accounting offered by the cellular service communication provider, when customers use femtocells, in comparison to using macro cellular network. Femtocells may be described as small base stations that connect to wireless service providers via a broadband backhaul link, such as digital subscriber line (DSL), cable internet access, T1/T3, etc., and offer typical base station functionality, such as base transceiver station (BTS) technology, radio network controller, and gateway support node services. This allows a user device or an access terminal, also referred to as a cellular/user device or handset, or user equipment, to connect to the femtocells and utilize the wireless communication service. It is noted that user devices can include, for example, cellular phones, smart phones, laptops, handheld communication devices, handheld computing devices, satellite radios, navigational devices, PDAs, and/or any other suitable device for communicating over a wireless communication system.
A known method for a user device to locate a femtocell network base station is to use a preferred roaming list (PRL). The PRL is stored in a user device. To find a femtocell network base station, the user device must search for a femtocell network base station identified in the PRL. This search is typically performed by the user device every 3 minutes. This method can consume a lot of power, thus reducing the battery time of the user device. Another method is to use pilot beacons, which must be transmitted on each and every frequency of the system other than the femtocell frequency. Pilot beacons have many problems, including creation of coverage holes for non-femtocell terminals, excess power usage, and added interference on the macro network. Thus, what is needed is a system and method for redirecting a user device to a macro or femtocell network without the disadvantages identified above.